Cellular Refurbished Phones: Are They Worth Buying?

A couple of years ago I came upon a listing of cellular refurbished phones on Ebay. The phones seemed legit, and there was a lot of competition for them. I purchase a used Blackberry phone for under $80 and thought I got a great deal. The phone worked fine for about three months. I felt like I had finally taken a step up in technology and joined the world of Blackberry users. I quickly realized what all the hype was about; checking my emails and organizing my daily tasks was much easier. Despite the fact that my cellphone bill shot up by about $40, I was happy with the way this Ebay refurbished phone worked.

Problems

Then the problems began. My Ebay Blackberry started shutting down for no apparent reason. The screen started to freeze and I knew this couldn't be good. Finally, after about two weeks of this behavior, the cellphone shut down completely.

I took some advice I found online and tried to wipe the Blackberry clean, thinking that maybe there was some type of virus or a bad program on the cellphone, but all the phone did was delete my information. I still couldn't boot it up.

Once I realized that I had been had, I thought about how silly it was to buy a used cellular refurbished phone online for that much money in the first place, even if it was a Blackberry. By the time the problems begin, it is too late to get your money back or complain. So I basically had to write off the cost of this cellular phone and chalk it up as a lesson learned.

Advice for Buying Cellular Refurbished Phones

My advice to anyone who is thinking about buying a refurbished phone from an Ebay seller or other online source is to buy an extended warranty for the phone. With these special warranties, which are usually offered right on the seller's product page, you are covered for a year on a refurbished phone. SquareTrade is one such cellphone warranty company, and will either fix your phone or refund you what you paid.

Check the seller's feedback thoroughly to see if they have had any problems. Also, read up about the refurbished phone you are thinking about buying online to see what other people are saying.

If you can not get a warranty or a good idea of the quality of the seller's goods, I do not recommend buying a used or refurbished cellular phone on Ebay or online for anything over $40. The risk of getting a dud is way too high.